BISHKEK (TCA) — Russia should spearhead the process of bringing stability to Afghanistan, while Pakistan will support all of Russia’s initiatives towards reaching this goal, Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said on April 26 at a meeting with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on the sidelines of an international security conference in Moscow, Sputnik news agency reported.
“Russia should take the leading role to establish stability in Afghanistan… I want to assure you that Pakistan will always overwhelmingly support Russia’s initiative aimed at bringing peace to Afghanistan,” Asif said.
“The fact that you organize conferences and discussions on Afghanistan plays a very important role in bringing peace in this region… and we hope that discussions at the conference will lead to the desired result so that we will be able to achieve great progress in Afghanistan,” Asif added.
According to the Pakistani minister, the meeting with Shoigu was useful, with all sides expressing their commitment to the continuation of joint counter-terrorism efforts.
“We came to the conclusion that our military cooperation and the fact that we will receive military equipment would lead to greater progress in the fight against terrorism,” Asif said.
Afghanistan is suffering from unstable political and security issues due to the activity of the Taliban movement and Daesh terrorist groups.
Moscow recently hosted the fifth Afghanistan peace conference, which was attended by 11 countries, including Russia, China, Pakistan, Iran, India, Afghanistan, and Central Asian states.
